There are many machining operations involving cutting tools in which it is important to be able to precisely locate the cutting edges of cutting inserts mounted on the cutting tools. For inserts clamped in insert pockets formed in the cutting tool, the precise location of the cutting edge depends on the precision with which the inserts and pockets are manufactured. Imprecision in either of these two factors will result, amongst other things, in unevenly cut surfaces. For example, slotting cutters with radially directed inserts having insert pockets cut into opposite faces of the cutter body can suffer from both mismatch between right and left inserts and from radial and axial runout.
Inserts, and especially their cutting edges, can be ground in order to make all the inserts to be mounted on a cutting tool uniform. However, the tool pockets with two adjacent pocket walls cannot be ground and therefore there may be a certain amount of inaccuracy in the location of a mounted insert due, basically, to imprecision in the location of the pocket walls which abut the insert.
In view of the foregoing, it should be apparent that there exists a need to provide an adjustment mechanism that will eliminate, or reduce to within tolerable limits, imprecision in the location of the pocket walls which abut the insert, thereby reducing location inaccuracies of inserts mounted in the pockets.